This invention relates generally to delivery and playback of content to users of an online system, including advertising and video display.
Advertising has proven complicated to implement effectively in mobile device environments because of small display real estate and limited user attention. Different approaches to mobile advertising have been implemented adequately at best. One such implementation is banner advertising. These ad units are flexible in display size, orientation, and location but are often visually ignored in favor of provided content, a concept known as banner blindness. Floating ads, expanding frames, and pop ups are intrusive in part because they interfere with provided content and in part because they are unexpected, nevertheless are quickly dismissed. The time spent interacting with the advertising content is minimal and seldom remembered by users.
Hyperstitial advertisements are full screen advertisements that are displayed before or after an expected content page. This method of deploying ad units strikes a balance between content and advertisements because it does not compete for screen space with content and there is a presumption that an advertisement will occur. Digital magazines that offer users the ability to flip through content pages providing a familiar environment for hyperstitial advertising, as they are digital analogs to their print counterparts where readers expect full page advertising. However, hyperstitial video advertisements are usually not interactive and modestly capture the attention of the targeted user.